Room Availability

View the Room Availability by clicking on Front Desk > Availability/Room Chart, the Avail icon in the icon bar or pressing F4. Room Availability can be viewed, by default, a week at a time, summarized by room types or detailed by individual room numbers. See Rebuilding the Forecast if there is a question about the accuracy of the Room Availability. You may change the amount of availability data that is displayed on the screen by changing the drop down box at the bottom left of the Availability/Room Chart screen. Options include one week, ten days or two weeks. The time frame chosen will remain as the default each time the Availability/Room Chart screen is opened until another time frame is selected.

Drag/Drop

You can drag and drop items on the Show by Room Number. If the items are for the same room type and the same dates, the drag/drop operation will happen without any confirmation. If there is any change in the room type or dates, the reservation will open and you will confirm / accept the changes.

You can turn off Drag/Drop functionality in Setup / Configuration / System / Advanced Options and Settings.

The Availability screen offers a few different ways to change the current date range visible on the screen:

You may enter a date in the single date field located in the top left corner of the availability screen. This shows the availability for the time period selected from the date you entered.
You may move the date range backwards or forwards by clicking on the arrow buttons located near the bottom right corner of the Availability Screen. The single arrow buttons will advance the dates displayed by one day and the double arrow buttons will advance the dates displayed by the time frame selected.
If you want to check for room availability but would like to see a calendar to assist you in selecting a date range, select the Goto Date button. Double click on your date of interest to see the availability for the time frame selected from the date you selected. The same calendar can be displayed by clicking on the currently displayed dates in the upper left corner of the availability screen.

You can alternate the way the Availability/Room Chart screen displays data by clicking on the variable button in the top right corner of the availability screen. When you are viewing the current data on the screen by Room Number, the button will display Show by Room Type. By clicking the button, the display will change to show you room availability by Room Type. When you are viewing the current data on the screen by Room Type, the button will display Show by Room Number. By clicking the button again, the display will then change back to show you room availability by Room Number. You may alternate your view of the availability data with this button so that it displays the most relevant data for you.

By Room Number Summary Options

When displayed by Room Number, color coding is used to indicate room availability. A color legend detailing the meaning of the colors used is available in the bottom left corner of the Availability Screen. Any names listed in parentheses are stayovers from previous night(s). Guest names that appear in yellow mean the room assignment has been locked for this reservation. You can right click on any of the entries/fields on the detail screen for more options.

You may also filter the availability data that appears on the By Room Number screen so that only one selected room type appears. To do this, select the drop down box located in the color legend section of the By Room Number screen. Clicking in the drop down box will open a window that lists your room type codes and their descriptions. Selecting a room type with the mouse or using the keyboard's up and down arrows and pressing enter will then filter the availability data so that only the selected room type is shown.

To identify in house guests and reservations for a specific group, click the group icon, Group Icon at the bottom right of the screen. From the Display Group Blocks screen, select the group you want to see. Only in house guests and reservations for that group will appear in the room chart. All other reservations and inhouse guests will be grayed out. The right click menu on a reservation or in house guest in the group includes the Locate Group option. Select it to display only group reservations and in house guests for that group, or de-select it to display all reservations and in house guests.

Note: Same day guests that do not have any revenue posted will not appear in the Room Chart. For example, a guest who checks in, then decides not to stay and checks out on the same audit date without any revenue posted will not be displayed.

By Room Type Summary Options

Display options on the By Room Type screen are located in the bottom left corner of the screen.

Normal - Shows total rooms available (Rooms Available minus rooms sold minus rooms allocated for Groups minus rooms out-of-service)

Groups - Shows normal availability as well as the remaining rooms allocated for Groups.

Include Groups - Shows normal rooms available without taking into consideration remaining rooms allocated for Groups.

Include Unavailable Rooms in Occupancy - Adds Unavailable rooms and Out-of-Service rooms to the count as available rooms to sell.

Sort by Room Group - Sorts the Room Type list by Room Group instead of alphabetical order. This option is saved at the workstation level, allowing users to set their own preference.

Show Yielding - When Yield Management is active, if any of the dates are currently in a yielding situation, the cell background color will change to the corresponding color code setup in Yield Management.

Note: Inventory on the Room Type Summary highlighted in Aqua indicate that there are Wait List reservations recorded for the date and room type indicated.

In the by Room Type screen, clicking once in certain locations will display pop up boxes with summary information:

Room Type Inventory - Click once on the rooms available for a specific room type for a specific date and a pop up box appears showing the total number of rooms for the room type, the number of stayovers, checkins, rooms blocked for a group, unavailable rooms and available rooms. The number of available rooms is the same as what is displayed on the Availability/Room Chart screen.

Total Room Available/Occupancy - Click once on either of these numbers for a specific date and a pop up box appears showing the total number of rooms for the property, the number of stayovers, checkins, rooms blocked for a group, unavailable rooms and available rooms for that date. The number of available rooms is the same as what is displayed on the Availability/Room Chart screen.

Group Code Room Type - Clicking once on a room type blocked for a group displays the type of group, allotment or standard, the check-in and check-out dates, the group's release date, the sales person for the group and their office location.

tip

Double click on a room type for a specific date to create a new reservation. The rate code selected in the Show Rates options will be used. If no rate is selected, the default rate code is entered for the reservation.

Availability/Room Chart Summary Functions

Show Rates Button Located in the top right corner of the window, clicking this button displays select rate codes configured in roomMaster. Select a rate code and the rates will appear in the Availability screen for the room type and date. If your rates vary by the number of Adults and Children, use the drop down boxes located in the bottom right of the screen to display those rates. The same rate code will appear each time the availability screen is opened for a workstation until a new rate is selected. If a reservation is started from the by Room Chart screen, the rate selected in Show Rates will be the rate used for the reservation.

Note: If a Rate Closure is in effect for the dates displayed, (Closed) will appear for the dates the rate is not available.

Selecting a rate designated as a Package Rate from the Show Rate option will add a dropdown to indicate the number of nights being quoted, Update the number of nights, adults and children and the rate displayed is calculated based on the settings of the package components on the rate. Rates displayed for each date are the total amount to quote for the entire guest stay.

To stop displaying rates, click Show Rates, then select Do Not Show Rates. You can choose to hide a certain rate code from being displayed by selecting Setup > Rates Management > Setup Rate Codes, selecting the rate code to hide, then checking the Hide On Availability Screen option. The default rate selected in Setup > Configuration > Reservations will be used if no rate codes are displayed in the menu.

Rules Button Also at the top right of the window, clicking this button expands the Availability/Room Chart screen displaying reservation rules applicable to the time frame shown. If the Rules button shows a red check mark, this indicates that rules do exist for the current dates displayed.

Room Properties This button displays a different window depending on if the by Room Type or by Room Number screen is displayed.

By Room Type - Clicking Room Properties will display the extended description entered for the highlighted room type. Either the room type or the inventory for a specific date can be highlighted.

By Room Number - When a specific room is selected, clicking Room Properties will display the Room Properties window. General information about the room is displayed including the extended description. From here, you can change the housekeeping status, place the room on Temporary Hold, put the room Out of Service, or add Work Orders. You can also log Items, such as furniture and fixtures, that you purchase for the room.

Breakdown This button is used to show the breakdown of what Reservations, Inhouse Guests and Groups make up the inventory figures shown in the availability screen. Use this feature to determine any discrepancies in the availability. Entering a room type and date displays all Reservations, Group Blocks, Unavailable, Out of Service, and InHouse rooms for the room type for that particular date. The information can be printed and verified against the reservations. If there is ever a question about the availability, rebuild the forecast as described at the top of this page.

Rates Button Located at the bottom of the Availability/Room Chart screen, this button will open the Display Rates screen.

Upgrades Click here to access the upgrade function of roomMaster. This feature lets you locate reservations to be upgraded to another room type based on availability and status. Click here for more information on the Upgrade feature.

For more information about Room Availability, see Unavailable Rooms.